Gas-producer.



No. 845,163. PATBNTED FEB. 26. 1907.

HJK. GOWBN.

GAS PRODUCER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7. 1906.

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PATENTED FEB. 26, 1907.

H. K. GOWEN.

GAS PRODUCER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7. 1906.

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UNITE STATES PAT -j FICE.

HENRY K. COWEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GAS-PRODUCER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 26, 1907.

Application filed May 7,1906. Serial No. 315,652.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY K. CowEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Producers, of which the following is a specification, reference be ing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to means for supplying air and moisture to the retort of gas-producers, and particularly to that type (30mmonly called "suction-producers, wherein the flow of air to the retort to aid combustion is-induced by a suction action of the engine caused by the partial vacuum produced by the forward stroke of the piston in drawing in its charge. With the engine running at a regular rate of speed the volume of air passing through the air-supply pipe to the pro ducer will be comparatively fixed and will vary in volume and speed as the speed of the engine is increased or decreased under control of its governor mechanism.

It is desirable to incorporate with the air a proportionate amount of steam or moisture for the double purpose of enriching the gas and preventing a too rapid combustion of fuel and a too high temperature, with result ing formation of clinkers. T o maintain a uniform percentage of steam at varying speeds of the engine, it is desirable that the supply of water from which the steam is generated should not only be proportioned to the speed of the engine, but should vary as rapidly as the speed changes that is, the variation in the requirement should as quickly have a variation in effects to meet the requirement.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of a portion of a gas-producer embodying my invention. Fig. 2is a sectional elevation of the pipe for conducting the gas from the furnace to the scrubber with the heating-chamber for the air surrounding a portion of it and the waterfeed mechanism connected with the heatingchamber. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the gas-conductor and heating-chamber along line A B, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross-section along line C D of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of a constant-level feed-water cup; and Fig. 6 is a crosssection of Fig. 5 along line E F.

Similar reference-numerals designate the same parts throughout the several views.

1 represents the retort or furnace, which may be constructed in any preferred form; 2, a feed-hopper to receive the materials of combustion and communicating with the interior of the furnace; 3, a conduit communicating with the upper part of the retort and adapted to conduct the hot gases therefrom and deliver them to the scrubber and engine mechanism. (Not shown.) The conduit is preferably formed with an upper horizontal portion 4, connected with the retort, and the vertical portion 5, having a flange 6 at its lower end, that is secured to the flanged end of a rectangular air-heating chamber 7, provided with a flange 8 at its lower end, to which is secured the flanged end of a pipesection 9, designed to communicate with the gas-purifying mechanism.

The chamber 7 is provided with a central tubular section 10, forming an interior conduit communicating with the upper and lower pipe-sections and provided with oppositely-disposed wings forming a partition 11, dividing the chamber into two verticallydisposed compartments upon opposite sides of the conduit for the hot gases. Integral with the partition are vertically-arranged heat-radiating wings 12 with intervening channels. Air and water are admitted to the upper end of one of the compartments of the heating-chamber by means of the pipe 13 and flowing downward passes through openings 14 at the lower end of the partition and upward through the other compartment to a pipe 15, communicating with the interior of the furnace. Integral with the pipe 13 is a feed-water cup 16, having three compartments 17, 18, and 19 in its bottom portion formed by the centrally-arranged partitionwall 20 and the wall 21, arranged parallel with wall 20. A pipe 22 communicates with a source of water-supply and the bottom of compartment 17, and the supply of water is controlled by means of a valve 23.

At the upper end of the partition-wall 20 is a longitudinally-disposed opening communicating with the air-pipe 13 and provided with a feed-nozzle 24 and a needle-valve 25, operatively connected therewith. Below the longitudinally-arranged opening is a transverse opening 26, and a vertical opening 27 communicates with the transverse and longitudinal openings in a manner to conduct the water to a chamber 28, surrounding the needle-valve in rear of the threaded shank of the feed-nozzle. The body portion of the needle-valve is threaded and its outer end provided with a disk 29, by which it may be manipulated in a manner to adjust the size of the opening between the chamber 28 and the opening in the feed-nozzle.

The top of the partition-wall 21 is above the plane of the valve and feed-nozzle for the purpose of maintaining a water-level at all times sufflciently high to supply the valve, and any excess of water will flow over the top of the partition into the compartment 19 and find an outlet through a drip-pipe 30.

In operation air is drawn through the airpipe 13 into the heatingchamber, from which it passes to the furnace, the volume of air being determined by the requirements of the engine due to its speed or number of suction-strokes of its piston as controlled by the governor mechanism, and as the volume passing through the pipe and heater is variable its rate of movement will be variable, and as it passes the feed-water inlet its current will operate in a variable manner to influence the flow of water therefromthat is, as the volume of air passing through the pipe is proportionate with the speed of the engine the speed of the current of air passing the waterfeed nozzle will be proportionately governed, and the greater the speed of said air-current a greater amount of water will be induced to flow from the feed-nozzle and become mixed with the air as it passes to the heating-chamber and then to the producer, it being under stood that there is a continuous flow of water through the feed-nozzle dependent upon the adjustment of the needle-valve when the producer is in operation and an additional induced flow when the speed of the air-current passing the feed-nozzle is increased.

I am aware that in British Patent No. 13,517, Dunlop, June 15, 1904, there is shown a producer having an air-heating chamber that is heated by the hot gases from the producer and means for supplying water to said chamber, consisting in a pipe communicating therewith and with a source of water-supply and a siphon device connected with said pipe in a manner to regulate the supply of water flowing to the heating-chamber. The water flowing freely and uninfluenced by aircurrents enters the heating-chamber practically undisturbed in form.

In my device the water as it leaves the regulating device is within the path of the current of inflowing air, and influenced there by becomes finely divided, and mixing with the air enters the heating chamber in the form of air more or less laden with moisture, which result materially assists the operation of the heating-chamber in producing the required mixture for assisting in the proper combustion of the fuel and in consequence thereof the production of the best quality of gas for the purpose required.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is

1. A suction gas-producer comprising, in combination, a retort, a gas-conduit communicating with said retort, a heating-chamber receiving heat from said gasconduit, an air-conduit communicating with said chamber and said retort,'a constant-level watercup, a feedoutlet from said cup said feedoutlet communicating with said air-conduit beyond said heating-chamber and permitting a continuous flow of water within the path of the inflow of air thereto and means for regulating the size of said feed-outlet.

2. A suction gas-producer comprising, in combination, a retort, a gas-conduit communicating with said retort, a heating-chamber receiving heat from said gasconduit, an air-conduit communicating with said chamber and said retort, a constant-level watercup, a feed-outlet from said cup said feedoutlet communicating with said air-conduit beyond said heating-chamber and permitting a continuous flow of water within the path of the inflow of air thereto and a needlevalve adapted to control said feed-outlet.

3. A suction gas-producer comprising, in combination, a retort, a gas-conduit communicating with said retort, a heating-chamber surrounding said gas-conduit, comprising two vertically-arranged compartments separated by a partition-wall, heat-radiating wings vertically arranged relative to said partition and having intervening spaces, said partition having openings communicating with the oppositely-disposed compartments, an air-inlet communicating with one of said contpartments, and an air-conduit connecting the other compartment with said retort.

4. A suction gas-producer coniprising, in combination, a gas-conduit communicating with said retort, a heating-chamber receiving heat from said gas-conduit, an air-conduit communicating with said chamber and said retort, a constant-level water-cup, said cup having a feed-outlet near the top thereof and within the part of the inflow of air to said heating-chamber, a partition-wall dividing the cup into two compartments, the top of said wall being above the plane of said IIC feed-outlet, a pipe connecting the compartment having the feed-outlet with a source of water-supply, anda drip-pipe connected with the bottom of the other compartment.

HENRY K. COWEN. Witnesses:

T. N. DAGGETT, E. W. BURGEss. 

